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Part of
Bonding through Context: Language and interactional alignment in Japanese situated discourse
Edited by Risako Ide and Kaori Hata
[Pragmatics & Beyond New Series 314] 2020
► pp. 39–59

Chapter 2
Reported thought, narrative positioning, and emotional expression in Japanese public speaking narratives

| University of Northern Iowa,
Scholarship on oral narrative has drawn attention to how narrators position themselves both as characters within the narrative and as narrators in relation to an audience. This chapter examines how reported thought is used in Japanese narratives to shift frames between a narrating voice (anchored in the current situation) and a narrated voice (anchored within the story world). Functions of reported thought include: drawing contrasts between what was thought and what was (not) said; creation of a vivid, emotional narrative through the enactment of inner speech; and allowing speakers to perform speech acts while partially escaping responsibility for their illocutionary force. Reported thought allows narrators to momentarily shift footing without challenging genre conventions or established social roles and relationships.
Keywords: reported speech, reported thought, narrative, Japanese, quotation, emotive communication, soliloquy, storytelling, narrative positioning
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Bonding and narrative positioning
  • 3.Reported speech and thought
  • 4.Data and analysis
  • 5.Narrative frames, speaking roles, and speech styles
    • 5.1The narrating frame: Public Speaking Register
    • 5.2The narrated frame: Reported Speech and Thought
  • 6.Functions of reported thought in public speaking narratives
    • 6.1Use of reported thought to draw contrasts between what was thought and what was (not) said
    • 6.2Use of reported thought to enact emotional reactions of the narrated character
    • 6.3Reported speech allows the statement of forceful assertions without directing the illocutionary force of the utterance at the narrative audience
  • 7.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 3 December 2020
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.314.02dun
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